Improved bottle-stopper



E4 1ST AT S ATENT FIG JoHN MULGHAHEY, on SPRINGFIELD, MAsSAcHUSErTS, AssicNon To HIMSELE AND CHARLES MULcHAHEY, on SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVED BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,l74, dated September 18, 1866.

To ail whom it muy concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN MULGHAHEY, of Springfield, Hampden county, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Bottle-Stopper 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a side view of myinvention, Figs. 2 and 3 being plan views, and Fig. 4 a section vertically through The purpose of this invention is to make a stopper for bottles intended to hold eervescing liquor, which shall be easily opened and shut, and which shall be, although tight enough to` hold the gas coniined under ordinary pressure, so arranged that when aneX- traordinary degree of expansion is caused in the bottle the gas may escape in some degree and save the bottle from bursting.

. In construction, I form my stopper of a piece of india-rubber or similar suitable material, hftted in a metal case. This case is hinged to a rod, which extends down to the neck of the bottle, and. is attached to a collarl around the neck. On the opposite side of the collar is another rod, attached in the same way as the iirst, having at its upper end a head. This head passes through an orifice in an ear jutting out from the side of the case opposite to the hinge before mentioned. When the head is passed through the orilice in the ear and pressed outfrom the bottle, it catches on the upper surface of the ear and holds the case and rubber down on the mouth of the bottle. Through the center of the rubber wad is an orifice of proper size, the case having one to correspond. At the top of this orifice,

'Iitting into it, is a valve of suitable material, held in place by a spring, which holds it down until extraordinary pressure operates on it from the inside of the bottle.

In the drawings, A is the metal case; B, the rubber wad or cushion; a a', the rods connecting thecaseA with the collar (l. D is the safetyvalve, held down by the spring Eand stopping the upper end ot' the orifice F.

It will be seen that the upper end of the rod a is furnished with a head, l), which catches upon the upper surface of the ear G, after passing through the orifice d, whereit is held tightly in place by the latch H, which is pivoted at one end upouthe upper surface of the case A and slides around parallel to it. Friction is formed upon it by the spring-latch K beneath it, which keeps it in position when it is shut against the head of the rod c. The collar G is connected around the neck of the bottle by means of the screw L working inthe nuts c c', and has an ear on each side of it, through which the lower ends of therods c c` are passed, and fastened by the nuts ff. g is the hinge connecting the case A and the rod a.

In operation. when the bottle is filled and ready to cork, the case is pressed down, the rubber fitting tightly down upon the rim of the bottle, the head of the rod a passing through the orilice d in the ear G, and is then pressed into place and held there by the latch H being swung around Aagainst it, this latch being itself held in place by the friction of the spring-latch K. This being done the bottle is stopped completely until, as before stated, sufficient gas is accumulated in the bottle to force up the valve D, when a portion escapes and relieves the pressure in some degree.

' he advantages of this invention are, principally, that it formsa complete stopper, easily i adjusted, having no wires to be cut when opened, and then it renders the bott-le per fectly safe from explosion, which otherwise is frequently the case, and still keeps all necessary life in the liquid, the safetyvalve only opening under such pressure as would be nearly sufficient to burst thebottle..

The ease with which-this bottle may be opened is another advantage, it being only necessary to swing around the latch H, and then, by a slight pressure on the rod c', the stopper is allowed to fly-open, operated by the pressure A on the inside.

Now, having described my invention, what Ivelaiin as new, and desire to secure by Let- 3. Holding the latch or catch b lby means of ters Patent, isthe pivoted bar H, which is also held in place l. The arrangement of a safety-valve in the by means of the spring K, or other suit-able stopper of a bottle, substantially in the manmeans, substantially as described. Der and for the purpose set forth.

2. The use of a rubber or similarly elastic JOHN MULCHAHEY. stopper when the same is tted in a case, A, which is hinged at one side and fastened by a Witnesses: catch or latch at the other, substantially as set J. B. GARDINER,

, forth. EDWARD H. HYDE. 

